Key Indian equity indices declined for the second straight trading session on Friday. Taking a cue from the weak US and Asian markets, the 30-share Sensex of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) plummeted 415.27 points, or 2.79%, to close at 14.483.83 points. The broader S&P CNX Nifty of National Stock Exchange (NSE) lost 95.45 points, or 2.15%, to end at 4,352.30 points.
Dealers said intense selling by foreign institutional investors (FII) in the past two sessions portends trouble for the Indian markets. FII were net sellers of Rs 1,857 crore of equities on Friday, as per the provisional figures of BSE. The domestic institutional investors were net buyers of Rs 484.77 crore. The Sensex opened the day at 14,569.01 points, touched a high of 14,601.39 points and a low of 14,438.59 points. The markets were volatile all day amid stock sales across sectors. Sensex lost 80.70 points, or 0.55%, in the last one week while Nifty shed 7.7 points, or 0.18%.
Anita Gandhi, who heads institutional business at Arihant Capital Markets, said, ?The overall breadth of the market was negative as there was no buying for the past two trading sessions. The increase in jobless claims in the US and the developments on the Indo-US nuclear deal at the Nuclear Suppliers Group meet in Vienna also impacted the market. Though inflation and crude oil prices are coming down, we assume that the markets are going to remain volatile for the coming days.?
Out of the 2,728 stocks traded on BSE, 1,011 stocks were in green, 1,626 stocks in red and 91 remained unchanged. In the Sensex only three stocks advanced and 27 stocks declined.
Barring the FMCG index, all BSE sectoral indices ended the day in red. The worst hit sectors were banking, IT and real estate which witnessed huge selling pressure throughout the trading session.